The Get Going Saga: ShadowSide
by DestaSte
Summary: Christian has no dreams of gyms and championships, he only wants to catch them all in Unova. More specifically, a Heracross. However while he goes about his normal day, a great mystery begs to be solved in the far off Hoenn region when a powerful trainer is abducted. How will the saga affect Christian? Runs alongside Get Going: GymQuest.
1. Chapter 1

Part 1

"Can you see one?"

His Pokémon companion shook it's head with a sullen and drawn out "Tynamo."

"Oh man, it's already getting late. We'll have to head back soon, and we came so far."

The blonde boy sat on the highest hill of Route 12, his Tynamo bobbing up and down beside him, watching the grassland below.  
The sun had already half set now, and twilight was creeping in. The area below was becoming increasingly shaded by the surrounding yellowing hills as the sun sank further. Over to the east, a flickering light was hastily moving away through the trees, most likely a trainer and their Ponyta riding to Lacunosa town. "Let's sweep the area one more time."  
He turned and made his way down the hill. He had travelled two days to this spot in hopes of catching a rare bug type, but had come up unlucky so far.

"Hey, Christian!"

He stopped quickly at the recognition of his name, causing Tynamo to almost bump into him. Curiously it peered round it's trainer to see who was there.

It was another trainer, looking up at the pair from the bottom of the hill with a cheesy grin. He recognised her, however only from earlier that same day when they had first met.

"Did you find the Pokémon you were looking for?"

"Nah..."

"Oh that's a shame. Still- I found mine!" Any real disappointment she felt for him was very quickly overshadowed by the joy of her own victory.

"Ah good, did you have to net many humans to find it?" If she was going to throw it in his face, he may as well jest her in return at every opportunity.

Having only spoken to her for a maximum of five minutes earlier that morning, when she swung at him with her bug net, from what he could tell she was a seventeen year-old trainer named Elle, from a city surprisingly close to his own, and was more oblivious than obnoxious.

"You're not still mad about me trying to net you, are you? I mean you are blonde..."  
"Doesn't mean I'm a Combee."

"Go easy, my Pokénav lit up like one was near and I just heard you coming, that's all." she explained.

Used to his fairly mundance C-Gear, he replied in puzzlement, "That Pokénav gadget does some weird things..."

"You should get one! They're mainly the product of Hoenn but that doesn't mean you can't get a hold of one! Anyway, I asked my Combee and she knows where a Heracross around here lives! Forgive me?"  
Elle's new Combee sprang out of it's great ball, which she held out in her open palm. It fluttered in the air for a moment, all three of its faces a picture of blank innocence, before turning and taking off.

"Are you serious? Maybe I will if you show me right now." After having no luck at all, he was genuinely hopeful at this prospect.

"Cool!"

She grabbed his sleeve and ran after the Combee, who frankly, looked more like it was fleeing than leading.  
They ran around a few more of the hills and entered the thickest section of forestry and half-tumbled down a particularly steep and muddy bank, the only path ahead now through the nastiest looking shrubbery.  
The two unsure humans paused and Tynamo eyed Christian up sorrowfully as he levitated up and over, well clear of the thorns.

Combee was getting ahead of herself, now almost out of sight.  
"No wonder we didn't find one, who even knew Route 12 had an area hidden like this?" he mused, in an attempt to ignore the obstacle they would inevitably have to clear.  
"Well…" Elle grimaced as she held out and hand and pulled back some of the thicker, less spiky branches. Christian could have sworn what happened next was malicious, but with Combee's chubby smile who could tell? It head-charged into Elle's back and pushed her through the bush, her emerging suitably worse for wear than on entry.

It orbited giddily around her shoulders, blissfully uncaring. Christian proceeded to climb through the Elle-shaped hole as he observed her patting herself down and picking the twigs from her hair.  
A little further along Combee gestured it's body over to a small clearing surrounded by a wall of bushes with a gleeful, "Bee, bee!"  
Christian and Elle both crouched and approached quietly, peering over to see...

A Dunsparce lying there, dormant and uncaring.

Combee flew in circles overhead, exclaiming it's name repeatedly, clearly enjoying itself far too much.  
"Whatever, I'll take it. -Tynamo!"  
Tynamo darted into line with Dunsparce, who may not have even been paying attention.  
Christian was about to issue command when a startling scream from behind demanded his attention, he turned not sure what to expect Elle's predicament to be.  
Elle was flailing wildly, face smothered by honey, Combee making a hasty retreat.

"Tynamo, charge beam... On Combee."

More than happy to oblige, Tynamo turned and raised itself in the air then fired a straight shot through the leaves, shocking Combee for a few seconds before she fell to the ground.  
Christian calmly retrieved Combee's dropped Pokéball from the ground and walked into range to return the insect to a prison it would hopefully not be released from again. In the half minute that passed on his way back, Elle had regained her composure, and sight for that matter, and was waiting for him with a slightly less convincing grin on her face this time.

"Elle, your Combee is a bitch."

Part 2

 _Elsewhere..._

"Thank you Beheeyem, you can stop using flash now." In a nod of acknowledgment, Beheeyem's fingers stopped blinking and her body returned to its usual clay colour.

The corridor they had just emerged from had been pitch black, but now here in this large, open chamber, makeshift torches burned with ghostly fire along the walls.  
The trainer looked around in amusement, like a true tourist taking in the sights. Except the only sights were a few piles of assorted pottery dotted around the corners of the chamber, and many pillars, some way more intact than others. The whole thing would have been one bland blend of grey if it were not for the glow of the fires.  
Then his sight slid over something in the centre at the far end of the room and his eyes widened. It was a set of double doors, set in the stone. One of the pillars had fallen inwards to rest on the other framing the door.

And inset above, was that a golden coffin?

"Beheeyem, use Telekinesis." Beheeyems fingers and eyes glowed a luminous blue, and a matching glow enveloped the pillar as, with a slow arc of it's arms, Beheeyem used its power to shift the obstruction to the side of the door. No sooner had the pillar touched the ground, a set of blood red eyes shone from the coffin above. Four large hands of shadow burst from the Pokémon and it pulled itself out from its place in the wall, dropping to levitate centimetres from the floor, demented eyes fixed on the intruding trainer.

"Sorry Cofagrigus, I saw this coming, you can't shock me. Are you guarding the door?"  
Cofagrigus' only response was a swift pitch of will-o-wisp from one of its hands, which Beheeyem intercepted midway with psybeam. Blue fire and rainbow energy danced and disintegrated in front of him, but he was not phased.

Cofagrigus turned to Beheeyem with a glare. There was a moment of complete silence as it paused to consider its opponent, a ball of ghostly fire already burning and ready to throw again.  
"Yes, if you hit my Beheeyem with will-o-wisp you'll become burned too, I don't think that's a strategy to go for."

With a cry, Cofagrigus lunged forward, all four arms stretching and grasping at Beheeyem. She dodged the first two, left then right, a swift bout of telekinesis to repel the third and then down for the fourth. The trainer yelled,

"Telekinesis again!" and Beheeyem had her opponent suspended in the air, unable to move.  
"It's trying to negate your ability with Mummy," he explained to his Beheeyem, "we can do this without physical contact though. Use Psybeam."

Cofagrigus roared, and although it could not move its body, another arm slid out from the coffin an hurled a shadow ball as Beheeyem took aim with its free arm, the other holding Cofagrigus aloft. Beheeyem fired psybeam and moved simultaneously to dodge, skewing the arc of the beam to skim Cofagrigus and breaking the concentration of telekinesis.

Cofagrigus followed up with hex, a great aura of purple energy radiating around it's body as purple fire was summoned around Beheeyem and lashed out at her.  
"You know what, Weavile would work better here. Beheeyem Return." And with a quick zap of red light, Beheeyem was taken back. "Go, Wea-!"

The man had barely finished putting Beheeyem's pokéball on his belt to reach for the next one when Cofagrigus withdrew its arms and launched itself at him with a jump off the air, It's body swung open, and the trainer saw nothing but endless spanning darkness inside.  
The arms came again, but from the centre of the darkness inside the coffin this time, first restraining his arms.

"Hey, you're a violent one!"

He struggled all he could, but Cofagrigus' grasp was absolute. It laughed it's name ominously while lifting the helpless trainer into the air, then a pause to let him stare into his doom one more time and, thump. The trainer was consumed wholly into Cofagrigus' darkness and the coffin body slammed shut immediately behind him.  
Cofagrigus turned slowly to face the door that the trainer had so desperately sough to open, and it opened. Very slowly, and with a grinding of stone, revealing brilliant white light beyond.

Then, Cofagrigus floated casually past the threshold and beyond, as the door began to close in it's wake.

"Oh dear. Well at least my body made it in."


	2. Chapter 2

Part 1

Now, it was definitely useless to go Pokémon hunting. After returning to the main path, Elle had quickly relented. To give her credit she hid her embarrassment well, but the haste with which she left for a mumbled destination that Christian didn't catch was not testament to her character beforehand. Christian put his hood up and placed his hands in his pockets, heading back to cross through Village Bridge to eventually reach Opelucid City, and wasn't watching where he was going when he felt his foot kick something.  
"Weedle!"  
"Woah, i'm sorry!" He began,  
The Weedle tilted it's head at him in curiosity, looking surprisingly happy for a Weedle that had just been kicked in the head, which sharp changed when it was jolted by Tynamo's charge beam.

"Tynamo, I know the day's been a drag but at least wait until I give you the word to attack." Then, with a sigh, "better than going home with nothing."  
Christian tossed a pokéball at the motionless Weedle, and it remained captured without quarrel.  
"Alrighty, thanks Tynamo. I'll see you in the morning." And he returned Tynamo to its pokéball.  
He walked on, letting out a light hearted "woo hoo," and scooping the pokéball up in one smooth motion as he passed.

Part 2

The next morning Christian left the vibrant lights of Opelucid city behind. He had visited the city many times in his life and could remember the days it used to resemble an archaic set of ruins built around the Dragon Gym there.  
He looked out over Route 8. The familiar swamp land that bordered his home town was burning vivid colour under the afternoon sun.  
"Christian! Good afternoon." A warm but confident from his right.  
It was Henry Hale, a friend from Iccarus.  
"Hale. Good to see you." Christian nodded in greet.  
"You've been travelling for Pokémon again? I'm out here training, I'd love to test your new team's mettle."  
"Yeah we can battle, but about that... I kinda only have two Pokémon at the minute..."  
"What? Are you doing some kind of power training?"  
"No, I lost access to the rest. It's kind of a long story. Well actually it's quite short, but you know... So I'm starting from scratch."  
"Two Pokémon each, then?"  
Hale was a good hearted man, and they had battled many times in the past as friendly sport, a battle with him would be enjoyable even if Christian didn't feel his team could keep up with Hale's.

"Let's kick it off then, Tynamo, let's battle!"  
Christian threw the Pokéball skyward and Tynamo sprung from it.  
"Go Forretress! Use Rapid spin!"  
"Straight into the action then?" Christian smirked.  
Forretress spun at Tynamo, but even with the momentum of rapid spin, Forretress was sluggish in comparison. Tynamo darted out the way, then back again to put distance between them.  
"It's probably got mad defence, so there is one strategy we can spam. Tynamo, charge beam!" Christian called out.  
It unleashed the electric attack in a straight shot, striking the Forretress charging towards it. Forretress wobbled with the shock but did not cease attacking, but Tynamo dodged easily again, getting in another blast of charge beam in as retaliation.  
Christian look at Hale and shrugged, "I'm sorry but Tynamo's move pool is basically non existent. We're working on it."  
Hale tried to assert confidence in his Pokémon, "Forretress, Autotomize and Mirror Shot!"  
Forretress glowed a light grey and spun, dispersing the light around it, it's speed now increased. It immediately fired and caught Tynamo unprepared.  
"Tynamo, slow it again with Thunder Wave!"  
Thunder Wave hit and Forretress immediately lost it's new found agility, struggling to move at all now.  
"Damn it." Hale muttered.  
"Charge beam, and keep it up for as long as you can!"  
Tynamo did so, it's Special Attack stat ever so slightly increasing by the second, the strain on Forretress becoming apparent.  
Tynamo relented for breath after a good ten seconds, and released from the attack Forretress slumped to one side, still holding on. It tried to spin but wobbled round once and lost it's balance again.  
"Tynamo once more!"  
A quick charge beam this time, but it was thick and powerful from the stored power Tynamo had amassed, and Forretress was finished.  
"Ah. Looks like I need to do something about you fast. Return Forretress, now go Medicham." Said Hale.  
Medicham emerged, and took a ready battle stance.

Hale went on, "Tynamo's a tricky one. With levitate as an ability it's got no weaknesses. At least it's base stats are still relatively low. Medicham, let's go!"  
In one massive rush Medicham was upon Tynamo, legs barely visible as it ran.  
"Retaliate!" Hale shouted, and Medicham's whole arm glowed sheer white as it ploughed into the fearful Tynamo.  
Tynamo was hit back with great force, the damp grass not providing ample enough cushion as it bounced a few times before coming to a stop at the edge of the field.  
"Woah, that strike!" Christian gasped, "But we're still charged up, Charge beam before it gets close!"  
Now Hale had more than enough warning, and told Medicham to use Light Screen. Medicham advanced, holding the light screen up as a shield at Tynamo's attack, it's momentum unhindered.  
"Take it down with Brick Break!"  
Again Medicham was too fast, and unable to move immediately from sustaining the charge beam, Medicham's chops struck Tynamo, who did not begin floating again this time.

Christian whistled, his eyes wide with awe as he returned Tynamo to safety.

"Okay..." He began, "Go Seadra!"


	3. Chapter 3

Part 1

"I'm sorry, looks like I win again."

"Duskull..."

"Best of 9? No, okay I suppose that _would_ be boring."

He assumed Duskull was always picking paper, mostly because it couldn't form the other two hand gestures, he also suspected that Duskull didn't really understand the rock-scissor-paper triangle anyway, so would accept whatever verdict he called.  
The man sat with his new found friend, Duskull, in the centre of the dank chamber chatting aimlessly about his adventures and the outside world. It seemed Duskull enjoyed his stories. Except it was not so much the man himself but his spirit, exiled from his body the minute Cofagrigus ate it.

He had tried to escape the chamber, by the exit corridor, by the grand stone door, by running into the wall. But nothing worked. For all he was intangible, the boundaries of this chamber were very solid to him.

Usually the pinnacle of calm, he had to admit he was a little concerned about his body, and other Pokémon for that matter. It may have been a one-sided conversation but talking to Duskull at least saved him talking to himself.

"Duskull have you lived here long?"  
Duskull nodded solemnly.  
"I see. So you don't enjoy this place? Wait, are you trapped here too?"  
Duskull nodded again, then tapped the solid floor a few times to emphasise the point.  
"So, there's no way out for ghosts..."  
The man looked around again.  
"Ghosts can't get out..." He pondered, "But you're still a Pokémon and you can also be solid... Pokémon can be transported various ways." Then his sight landed on his discarded bag slumped on the floor, some of the contents had spilled out, including his Pokénav, looking for anything that might help.  
"I might have a plan, would you help me out? It's a long shot but in return you'd get to see the outside!"  
Duskull nodded enthusiastically at the thought, the eerie red glow in it's skull brightening a little.  
"In my bag there, I have my Pokénav and some Pokéballs! Would you mind putting yourself in one?"

Duskull flipped open the bag and rummaged though the contents, throwing out the Pokénav and then a standard Pokéball. He gave it a tap and it sprung open, converting the ghost into a mass of red light and snapping shut.  
Duskull released itself seconds later and turned to the man expectantly.

"Great, this might work! Now if you could just pull out a piece of mail and a pen?"  
Duskull did so after digging a little deeper in the bag and floated there comically, pen and paper held by it's ragged hands.

"I suppose now I'll have to teach you how to write..."

Part 2

Christian's second Pokémon, Seadra, landed propped up on it's tail and glared at Medicham.

"Oh, unlucky you." Smiled Hale, "I just taught my Medicham a grass move... Medicham, use energy ball!"

"Great, well done." Christian offered a thumbs up and a blank expression. "Seadra take it on directly with Water Pulse."

The two balls of energy met in the middle, the great splash of water pulse on contact engulfing the energy ball and dispersing them both.

"The good news is, Medicham's Special Attack isn't as beefy as his Physical Attack." Christian told Seadra.

Medicham came bursting through the glittering remains of the attacks for a full frontal assault before Christian had expected it.

Seadra panicked on the spot and failed to react.

"Jump." Christian calmly offered.

Seadra sprung into the air off with surprising power from it's tail and Medicham stumbled to stop, glancing up in time to sight the quickly-becoming-less-airborne Seadra imminently bound for it's face.

"I think you just learned Bounce." Christian smirked.

"My favourite part of battling with you is when you finally snap into that mindset Christian. You never quite know how things will go."

Seadra bound off of Medicham and back a face paces, and Medicham rolled back and onto it's feet.

"We can't let up Seadra, Water Pulse."

The Water Pulse was fired but Medicham took it easily with Light Screen.

"Use Focus Energy."

Seadra's eyes narrowed as it readied internal strength.

"Medicham, Brick Break while it's defences are down!"

Medicham swung it's arm,

"Hitting when defences are down, that's my plan too!"

The energy of Water Pulse welled up in front of Seadra's snout, and Seadra lent back just enough for Medicham's hand to swipe through the orb of water, detonating it in a watery explosion.

"It's ability is snipe, I hope that was enough..."

Seadra regained it's balance, only slightly grazed by the ordeal.

Medicham still stood, albeit with effort.

"Use energy ball again!"

"Seadra, bounce."

Seadra leap out of range of the energy ball and over Medicham's head.

"Energy ball upwards!"

Medicham did so and the attack made contact, sending Seadra flying back upwards in pain.

"Take aim and hit it again."

"Seadra hide with Smokescreen."

Seadra recovered its composure and clouded its surroundings in black.

Medicham watched the sky, expectantly.

"Bounce around Medicham using smokescreen."

Seadra fell, but not where Medicham was expecting, above it's head, but off to it's side, and then back up again, still releasing black smoke as it landed and rebound upwards again. It did this a few more times quickly, and although Medicham launched a few randomly launched energy balls, none made contact.

Finally, Medicham jumped back away and out from the cage of smoke Seadra had engulfed it in, rubbing it's watery eyes to clear them.

"Water Pulse."

The move hit in seconds, considering Seadra was only inches away and waiting, Medicham too busy watching the smoke and expecting the attack to come from there to notice.

"Well I never. Cheap shot." Hale laughed as he returned his fainted Medicham.

"I couldn't take you on directly there, maybe next time I'll battle more head on." Christian shrugged.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 1

Icirrus City was dazzling. With the sun directly overhead nothing could block the relenting sheen of light reflecting off the wet ground. The water from the surrounding marsh seemed to constantly seep through the soil to the depths of the city, water-logging every patch of unpathed surface. Puddles lay collected on top of the grass, reducing a kids' organised games of football to a mess of hysterical jumping and splashing.

Christian trod on past. Getting soaked and muddy wasn't a concern so close to home; he would be back and dry soon enough. Overhead, a low flying passenger plane roared by, one of the many that day that would come in to land in Mistralton City.  
His home was quaint, the entrance corridor leading to the kitchen directly ahead, the stairs to the floor above to the left and a lounge on the right, but it was large in comparison to the growing trend of open-plan one bedroom houses that were all the rage these days.  
He slid the backpack off his shoulders and onto the floor by his bed, and dropped into the chair at his desk to review his last five days. He would go back to route 12 soon or look for a trade partner, but Heracross would have to wait a bit longer as something else demanded his time and attention this evening.

Now he had Tynamo, Seadra and...

He eyed Weedle's Pokéball narrowly, spinning it a few times on the desk surface. He didn't believe Weedle was inherently weak or useless, and a Beedrill, certainly, would be a great Pokémon and not one he had owned before. But he didn't feel a sense of ownership towards this Pokémon, like it wasn't meant to be his. Maybe it was because they hadn't battled together yet or the circumstances under which he caught it and his subconscious was disappointed.  
He thought about if he knew anyone who would like to trade, then he remembered the app to enable wonder trades on C-Gears had just been released a few days prior and Christian had yet had a chance to try it out.

"Any Pokémon from any part of the world..." He pondered, "That's worth a try any day."  
He fiddled with the C-Gear on his wrist, opening wonder trade.  
All he had to do was hold the pokéball containing Weedle over and a light projected from the device, scanning the ball, and displaying a summary of his Weedle's details.  
His eyes flicked over the screen, and then a confirmation message popped up on the screen.

"Confirm wonder trade, yes." He tapped the button and held the Pokéball over again. This time the light seemed to break the ball down into nothingness, it disintegrated into data, absorbed into intangible cyberspace.

"Good luck, Weedle."

Part 2

"Now you understand what to do?"

A nod.

"This needs to be a very private mission! The sanctity of this place relies on it. Understand?"

Yes, again, multiple nods this time.

"Make sure you trust the person before you choose them."

There were some electronic beeps as the Pokémon pushed buttons.

"Okay, you're my only hope Duskull. See you soon."


	5. Chapter 5

A few seconds to think, and the C-Gear face lit up again, the blueprint of another Pokéball building up above it and materialising in a crackle of data.

 _A physical object containing a living being transferred by a handheld device... Technology really could do some mad things with Pokémon._

Christian held out his free hand just as the process was completed, and his new Pokémon fell softly down into his palm.  
"Let's go, come out!" He yelled, and tossed the Pokéball up in the air. It sprung open and the recognisable burst of energy emerged, forming itself into a Pokémon.  
And there it was... A Duskull, stranger to Unova, floating in front of him in the dim light.  
Its eerie red light cast an out-of-place glow around the room, clashing with the warm colours of daylight and twisting unnatural shadows around the room. Christian's face was one of definite intrigue. He was aware of Duskull but knew little more than its name and type, this was definitely a Pokémon he would enjoy training. Duskull seemed to stare at Christian for the longest time, unmoving. Then it calmly looked around the room, looked back to Christian, and dived through the wall.

Christian was on his feet, cautiously at first, then running out the room and down the stairs after the Pokémon, ball in hand ready to return it should it seem necessary.  
It was too early to tell if Duskull would try to run away, but it was capable of phasing through solid surfaces and Christian didn't want to take any chances.  
Duskull had already zipped around the ground floor and decided nothing interesting was here when Christian spun into the doorway of the kitchen, just in time to glimpse it float out of the back door.

 _Maybe long distance transfers shock Pokémon more?  
_ "A little cardio won't do me any harm..."

And he ran out after Duskull.

He only had to follow the cries of startled townsfolk to track it. Ghost types weren't very common here and certainly no one expected a stray Pokémon floating through their home. Along the street, spinning round corners with streetlamps for support, forever splashing through puddles, catching only glimpses of Duskull between moments to keep on his trail. Duskull wasn't particularly fast, and Christian would have been able to keep up if his solidarity weren't such an issue.  
Duskull emerged from a roof to his left, and Christian glanced up to trace the movement when an unexpected force stopped his momentum dead and he tumbled backwards.  
"Ouch, watch it!" A familiar voice; female. He looked up to see Elle, now cringing in the mud, glare back at him momentarily until recognition sparked across her face too.  
"I've tip-toed through this city, you know! Trying not to get wet… All for nothing." She sighed angrily.  
Christian surveyed the surroundings, but Duskull was gone without a trace, so he focused on Elle.  
"Sorry," he grinned cheesily, knowing (hoping even) that she wasn't the type to get mad so easily.  
"I said I would drop by, not drop to the floor." She complained, "Of all the people in this city, what are the odds?"  
"Come on, you can stop berating me now."  
She signed one final time then pulled a face at him in jest,  
"Well at least now I don't need to worry about finding your house anymore. Not that you'd be in…"  
"I wonder traded a Weedle I caught and got a Duskull, but the first thing it's done is run away from me." He tried to redeem himself with a laugh at the end but the truth still remained that he had lost a Pokémon.  
"If I didn't know better I'd guess you were a beginner you know."  
"I seem to have used up all of my luck recently." He shrugged.  
Elle lived in Mistralton City, and since Christian had planned to arrive in Iccirus earlier they had agreed to meet up on her way through when she was travelling home; he just wasn't expecting it to be so soon after he got home himself.  
"I thought it would be another day or so until you passed through?" he queried,  
"Turns out everyone at the Lacunosa dog grooming convention had a stick up their backside, so after catching some Pokémon I decided to leave. They all looked down on my Growlithe because I hadn't given her golden hoop earrings or dyed her mane pink. "  
"That… sounds awful." He agreed.  
"And It seems that if I'm not hanging out with sparkling champagne floozies, I'm hanging out with clumsy you! So what's a girl supposed to do? Anyway, about your Duskull?"  
"I think he's long gone now…" He stood up and offered out a hand, which she took. "I'll show you to my house so you can get cleaned up, but I have a kind of… meeting… to attend soon so do me a favour and just watch out for Duskull?"

She wiped her muddy hands on her muddy leggings and realised it was a futile effort,

"Yeah I'd appreciate that."


	6. Chapter 6

Christian had been gone for quite a few hours in total and Elle couldn't help but feel there was something more to this 'meeting' of his, but after showering and changing clothes she had simply melted into his sofa and watched TV all evening until he finally returned. Now, upstairs, Christian sat on his desk chair turned around to face Elle, who was perched on the windowsill with the starry night sky at her back. She was fiddling with her Pokédex, scrolling through lists and viewing with intense concentration at times. She had just asked him what kid of trainer he saw himself as.

"I've travelled a lot and won a few badges from this region, but I've always just focused on catching and training Pokémon I liked and casually battling with my friends or other trainers."  
He tossed one of his Pokéballs in the air a few times as he spoke, catching it successfully with one hand until he nearly dropped it and decided to place it on the desk.  
"Oh so that's why you were looking for a Heracross. Are you starting a new team to train?" She asked.  
Christian looked down for a moment and almost seemed to mumble, "I got locked out of my PC account so I've lost access to all my Pokémon, for now I have to start from scratch until they give me access again."  
She glanced up and eyed him confusingly, "You can actually get locked out of a Pokémon PC account? I've never heard of that before, you must have done something really bad." She ended with a joking smile and a laugh.

He looked at her directly and said plainly, "You won't believe me even if I told you."

"Unless it's completely and totally illegal, in which case I probably shouldn't even be talking to you in the first place, It can't be more embarrassing than my evil Combee."  
"They're investigating the legitimacy of all my Pokémon, because I caught... A Mew."  
"Mew?" The name seemed to taste sour in her mouth.  
"Yeah."  
"As in the super mythical ancestor of all Pokémon, who some scientists don't even believe exists?" She started scrolling through her Pokédex again, Christian guessed to view any fact files on Mew.  
He replied plainly, "Yeah. See, I told you."  
"So you're saying you actually caught a real Mew?" The scepticism didn't even seem too harsh.  
"As real as you are in front of me. I had six with me so it was transferred to the PC box. By the time I ran to the Pokécenter to get it out the Government guys were waiting for me and they took the Pokémon I had with me too."  
"That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"  
"They said it was to make sure they weren't illegally imported or something like that. It's been about a week now and they still insist on interviewing me but I think it's just an excuse to poke at my Mew."  
"That would be a wild story to make up just to cover the fact you had no Pokémon, I'll credit you that. Tell me how you met it!"  
She lowered her hand, apparently now giving him her full attention.  
"Why? Hoping to find one for yourself?"  
"One thing I've seen compared to you so far is that I'm better at catching Pokémon, so if you can find one, anyone can!"

He cocked his head to frown at her, but did also laugh before going on,

"I was in Pinwheel forest Pokémon hunting, and it was just hovering around, sight-seeing or something. So I sent my Honchkrow out and fought it until it fainted, then just like any other Pokémon I caught it."  
"Well, when you get your Pokémon back I want to see it!"

He stared past her for a while, out the window and into the infinite reaches of space.  
"I should have three right now but Duskull ran off. You know, catching Pokémon never used to be this much trouble."

Duskull physically burst into the room, door banging open and causing both trainers to look over, alarmed.  
"Were you eavesdropping?!"  
"Duskull!" it exclaimed, then went straight over to the desk next to Christian where there laid a piece of paper and pencil. It drew a nine-square grid on the paper and then a circle in the bottom left segment, turned and held out the pencil expectantly.

Christian looked down at the Duskull in confusion. His brain followed what the Duskull was doing but the context was failing to provide all the pieces to make a sensible conclusion.  
"Right then, Duskull." He spoke slowly as he pondered what to do next. Then, "Return."  
He pulled out Duskull's Pokéball and returned the ghost before it reacted.  
Glancing over at Elle, "That was weird."  
Duskull popped from the Pokéball defiantly, picked up the pencil and threw it at Christian's head. It bounced off harmlessly and fell to the floor after a few flips.  
"I think it wants to play." Elle offered.  
Christian didn't respond but held up the Pokéball and withdrew Duskull from the room.  
Seconds later and again Duskull gave itself freedom.

"Fine! We'll play naughts and crosses!"  
Christian drew his X in the middle of the grid. Duskull countered with an O in the top right. Without thought, an X to the left of his previous.  
Duskull pondered, his red eye scrutinizing their battleground for far too long. Then it made it's move and took the bottom right corner.  
"Really? Okay." The final strike, Christian captured the middle right square and drew a line of victory through the line of crosses.

"I win, will you obey now?"

Duskull bowed and shook it's head in shame, then reasserted it's look to one of determination.

It entered the Pokéball that was to be its new home and then re-emerged, holding out a piece of mail.


	7. Chapter 7

"Help. Kiri Kiri." Was all the small letter read. Since Duskull seemed unimpressed with the result the first time Christian had read it, he still held it in front of his eyes, Elle peering over one shoulder, Duskull over the other, looking for something, anything, he could be missing.  
"So... Someone needs help Duskull?" Elle half asked half suggested.

Duskull nodded furiously, waving its little ragged arms, pointing to the words Kiri Kiri.  
"This was scribbled pretty hastily judging by the writing. Or by a child." Christian surmised, though he had never heard of a person or place named Kiri Kiri or similar, so he was pretty confident it wasn't referring to Unova.  
"Could be a joke." He concluded, "You have been pretty quirky so far Duskull, maybe your last trainer was a joker?"

Duskull just continued pointing at the words, closer this time.  
"The C-Gear doesn't have a mapping function does it? I'll search it on my Pokénav Plus." Elle volunteered.  
As she got to that task, Christian interrogated Duskull.  
"Did you just come back here to hide because you didn't know where you were Duskull?"  
It wouldn't look at him directly after that question,  
"But you heard my story about Mew and decided I was worthy. So you must have high trainer standards?"  
"Stop trying to compliment yourself." Elle sneered, then she looked up, face twisted and said, "There's a place called the Kiri Kiri Mountains, but it's in Hoenn; if that's helpful?"

"Hoenn,." Christian considered. "I'll go."  
"Duskull!" the Pokémon exclaimed happily.  
"Really? Just like that?" Elle seemed miffed for the first time since they'd met, despite everything so far.  
"It makes sense. If someone really does need help and they sent Duskull to fetch it, then I should go. Besides, I'm starting a new team and Hoenn is a land way different to Unova, I feel like it's time to step out further into the world."  
"Maybe there would be someone better qualified to hunt down and or help a mystery person we know nothing about though?"  
Duskull was horrified at the mere thought of this, and was straight in front of Elle's face, shaking and knocking her on the head.  
"Hey, control you ghost!" she complained, brushing Duskull away with her hand.  
"If Duskull was sent with a mission, he seems happy enough to go to Hoenn, and that's enough for me. And if Hoenn is wrong, well then it's not my fault."  
"Hmm, this is all pretty cool. A different region..." She was thinking things over in her head, Christian could tell. "I'll come with you!"  
"You don't have to say-" he started but she cut him off,  
"This crazy... But you know, I'd like to travel further too, and you can't just go running off without company!"  
Her cheer was relentless now at the concept of being a world traveller, though Christian couldn't help feel she was starting to think of it as a traditional holiday a little too much.

"Great. We leave in the morning."

Chapter 11

Mistralton City was built to the side of Unova's largest airport, the flow of goods and people keeping the city lively throughout the year for an otherwise small city.

Elle had stopped off at her house to reorganise her bag and swap some Pokémon, who of which Christian would have to wait and see, and led the way to the airport. As handy as ever, she had booked the tickets last night with her Pokénav and now all they had to do was wait. It was still early morning, but the ebb and flow of people in the airport was tireless. The two trainers sat in a coffee shop watching the clock on the departures board tick by. Duskull was hovering over Christian's shoulder as he had been the whole morning, avidly watching over their progress as if they might have changed their mind and planned to deceive him.

He looked down and observed a confused young man trying to work the baggage wrapping machine, meant to bind cases and provide extra protection to any valuable contents when a feeling came over him, that of being watched intently, and then something pink caught the corner of Christian's eye and he looked over to see a Mr. Mime at the other end of the room stood stone still, staring at him, face entirely frozen mid-mime.  
"Freaky…" he murmured and looked away.  
"I'm so excited! Hoenn will be such a big step in my career as a trainer. I've already been reading up on the local Pokémon there." Elle began, uneasily sipping at her scalding coffee again. "Did you know Hoenn was the founding region of Pokémon contests? I just want to be there already!"  
"Oh, yeah. I saw a gift shop in the other terminal selling exclusive accessories on the way here."  
"No way! How did I miss that? We've got loads of time, do you mind if I go take a look? You can come with me if you want."  
He glanced over her shoulder at the unflinching pink and white Pokémon. "That's okay; I'll find a way to occupy myself."  
"Okay, be right back!" She hopped up and, coffee skilfully unspilled, was out of sight in no time.

Christian maintained his eye contact with Mr. Mime, who started to move miniscule amounts as passer-by's momentarily broke the connection. It was moving away, slipping backwards into a moonwalk out of the terminal.

"Come on Duskull. Let's see what moves you know."

He leapt up and went after Mr. Mime with as fast a speed walk that was acceptable in public without breaking into a run. Duskull floated after him, no clue about what was going on.  
Outside, Mr. Mime was moving properly, bounding away with a comical waddle having decided to drop its mime act for a more practical escape plan. Christian was catching easily but wanted to keep Mr. Mime as far from its trainer as possible so turned and asked Duskull, "Do you know anything to stop it?"  
"Duskull!" in a vigorous reply, and he shot with impeccable speed into Mr. Mime's back in a ghostly blur.  
The shadow sneak attack knocked Mr. Mime off its feet onto the ground, and Duskull looked back at Christian for reaction- _praise hopefully?  
_ No time. He yelled back, "Duskull watch out, move!"  
Mr. Mime let out a strained, "Mime!" and shot a psybeam upwards at the unsuspecting ghost.  
It clipped his back and spun him forward but seemed to do minimal damage.  
Mr. Mime performed a surprisingly agile roll and flip and was back on its feet, facing trainer and his Pokémon.  
"Did you think I wouldn't recognize you? Sorry Mr. Mime but I'm not a fan of yours right now."  
"Mi-Mime!" It threw its hands forward and a visible glitter of ice could be seen rushing through the wind, Duskull dive bombed into the ground completely to dodge and phased into the concrete. Christian held up his arms to brace against the coming chill and felt his body shudder as every hair rose at the temperature shock.  
Mr. Mime turned to run again but Duskull had anticipated this and was floating at face level behind. The Mime recoiled back for a second with a start, then was hit square on with Duskull's confuse ray.  
"Nice shot, Duskull." Christian called as he shook the dew from his clothes and rubbed his hands together avidly.  
The mime Pokémon swung its arms and teetered on one foot erratically, Duskull watched in amusement for a moment then knocked it down to its backside. It sat cross legged and swaying, not having any clue how to function while confused and without a trainer to shout frustrated at it, until a swift blow to the back of the head from Christians backpack knocked it out cold.

Back in the terminal, Elle approached Christian in the coffee shop, shopping bags in hand.  
"Whatcha been up to?" she said with a smile, she failed to notice the conspicuous mummified figure attracting interest in the background.  
"Not much, read a bit of the newspaper, boring stuff. It's time to go to our gate."  
"Thank you, I hope you enjoy your journey," the woman smiled relentlessly, Elle returned the smile and moved through the gate, Christian now held up his C-Gear to display his passport too.  
As she greeted the flight assistant at the doorway, Elle could have swore she faintly heard, "Oh I'm sorry, there appears to be a problem..." and she was shepherded down the plane.

 _Wait what?_

She faltered and glanced back, the line behind her had continued to move but she did not recognise those who were there.  
"Ah- Um... Excuse me!" She called to the flight attendant but she did not notice, the line was still pushing Elle further along the plane.  
Spotting her seat number she swung into it, then straight up on her knees to peer over the seat and watch the door.

 _No need to panic, probably just a little confusion. He'll walk on any second._

Then the attendant at the door nodded to someone and closed it.


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm sorry; it seems a ban has been put on you travelling. I'm not authorised to see the details but I can't let you pass." She kept glancing uneasily at the screen in front of her, albeit trying to keep her smile up, most likely assuming worse than the reality of the situation since she couldn't see the 'details', as she put it.  
"Is this about that Mr. Mime?"  
"Um, sorry what?"  
"That's okay, never mind" Christian didn't bother arguing the point; he couldn't believe he hadn't seen this coming, although now it was hardly surprising- of course they would stop him leaving the region, both for questioning and to limit any business or escape attempts if he really was an illegal Pokémon smuggler.

He released Duskull on the walk home, who was immediately confused by the lack of aeroplane or Elle or Hoenn, or anything it had expected to see. "It's not really my fault though, Duskull, I didn't deceive you." He calmly tried to explain through Duskull's flapping about. Duskulll kept trying to steer him back towards Mistralton city but he adamantly pressed on heading for Iccirus.  
"Just let me go back home." He sighed, "Return. Now, at least it's a sociable time of day."  
Lucky for him, this was the world of Pokémon, and other things could be arranged.

"You want my Swanna to fly you to _Hoenn?"  
_ Christian cleared his throat and then quoted "Despite their elegant appearance, they can flap their wings strongly and fly for thousands of miles."  
He put his Pokédex back in his pocket and met Hale's sceptical eyes.  
"Yeah I know she can do it but it's just so far, I just never expected you to turn up at my doorstep with such a request."  
"I thought this was a better idea than swimming with Seadra."  
"Can't have you drowning on my conscience I suppose. Fine, but you better not let her get exhausted."  
"I'll pick up plenty of her favourite food for the journey, thanks Hale."  
"Happy adventures in Hoenn," a bemused Hale waved them off, "come back home safe Swanna."  
Swanna didn't try a steep climb but instead circled upwards off the ground and then casually went about gaining altitude as the shore blended more and more into the background.  
Feeling the silky softness of Swanna's feathers he looked down at his hands and a lucky revelation crossed his mind, "I need to get rid of this thing" and he unclipped the C-Gear it from his wrist, careful not to wobble himself off the swan carrying him.

 _I should have asked for Elle's email address sooner and I could have at least messaged her_ , he realised, _I can't just let her wander Hoenn alone when I'm the reason she's there, I'll have to think of a way to find her._

"I never liked the C-Gear anyway," and he dropped the device into the ocean expanse below.

Swanna's stamina was amazing and lived up to the Swanna name; it seemed she revelled in having free flight for a time again and achieving the massive potential her broad but beautiful wings could achieve, although she was certainly not used to having a passenger and they rested on the occasional land mass that had the audacity to peek above the endless water's surface.  
Christian felt the bitter wind was trying so desperately to work against them at times but Swanna just beat her wings even harder and was not deterred, leaving him the job of maintaining his own grip and balance.

On and on, the broad body of water never ended. It had swallowed all in Christian's view bar the sky, which to be fair, were both just mimicking the other.

 _Guess today my lucky colour is blue._

No sign of Hoenn yet, but they likely had a long ways to go.


	9. Chapter 9

What must have been hours passed, he couldn't tell since he abandoned his C Gear. Swanna didn't quite fly at the speed of an aircraft but they were surely making progress.  
Finally, Christian spotted something on the horizon –A town!  
Er… Maybe?

As the mass of houses came closer, Christian realised he was still definitely caught in the ever spanning ocean, yet somehow there were cabins, shops and people here. Wooden logs lay on the water top serving as walkways between the greater stands holding the buildings afloat.  
Was this part of the Hoenn region? When Christian was 8 he had learnt in Geography that the Hoenn region had expansive routes that consisted purely of water, making the need for boats or a swimming Pokémon greater than that in other regions. Of course he never attended school again after the age of 10 so his qualifications were hardly extensive. It looked a great deal like a discount Undella town. Perhaps this was one of those watery routes?  
"That's quirky. Swanna, land here for a second." He called to the large bird against the rushing wind.  
"Naaaa."  
They landed in front of the town sign and Christian dismounted.

"Pacifidlog Town" Was the name of this place apparently. It looked extremely like a discount Undella town from his point of view and was unsettlingly rural, unlike the Unova equivalent which was at least attached to the mainland. "Time to get some directions."  
There was a man in his forties crossing one of the walkways. Christian didn't like the way the logs sagged beneath his feet but it was probably all usual for the residents.  
"Excuse me, I was just wondering if you could help me quickly? I need some directions. Firstly, am I in Hoenn yet?"  
"Just arrived have you son? Yeah a lot of people stumble across our town by accident. Pacifidlog town of Hoenn, that's where you are!" He had a horse but friendly voice, and his eyes all but smiled even when his mouth was not.  
"Great, I'm glad we made it. Could you tell me one more thing? Do you have a recommended route to the Kiri Kiri Mountains?"  
The man scrunched up his face for a few moments, "Hrm, nope can't say I've even heard of that place. I've lived here my entire life and could tell you the big cities of the mainland, but those mountains, I've no idea my boy!"  
"Okay, well thanks for your time."

Regardless, Christian knew he had made progress in his journey and Duskull should be pleased. Maybe they could stay here for a while, Swanna deserved a rest. Swanna was already sat on one of the edges, staring out towards the sun, Christian sat down next to her, a majestic beast of intimidating size when he thought about it.  
"Come out, Duskull." He tapped the Pokéball on the wooden planks.  
Duskull popped out and did spun 360 degrees, mapping its surroundings and then stopping with its gaze on Christian.  
"We're in Hoenn, it's a start."

"Hey cute Duskull!" A friendly voice, female. The shadow moved in over him from behind.  
Looking around he saw a girl, possibly early twenties eyeing up Duskull. "I've never actually seen one before." She had straightened black hair down to her lower back and a straight fringe resting perfectly just above her eyes. She didn't fit in with the surroundings to be honest.  
"Me neither until recently, he's new to my team."  
"Well my name is Winter. Guess what season I was born in? Sorry for being so nosey, I'm looking forward to catching some new Pokémon when I travel to the mainland and there's so many! Call it window shopping I suppose."  
Her skin was quite pale for someone who lived out on an exposed bed of logs, mirroring her name.  
"Nice to meet you, I'm Christian."  
"What you up to? You look like a trainer, sorry there's no gym here."  
"I need to find an area in Hoenn called the Kiri Kiri Mountains, any idea?"  
"Kiri. Kiri?" Each individual word sounded foreign to her, so much so Christian didn't need her answer anymore. She pulled out her Pokénav and held it up. "Oh wow, hmm that's definitely somewhere on the mainland. Let me check this data file I have on here… My Pokénav says that the Kiri Kiri Moutains are located somewhere between Littleroot town and Fortree City."  
"Wow that's so helpful." He tried to hide the dryness from his voice and more than slightly failed. "Note to self, go back to school when you're back in Unova." Still, this place was relaxing and any exacerbation he was about to feel was swallowed by the peaceful ebb of waves and the warmth in the air. "How hard can a _mountain_ be to find anyway?" He was on an adventure, so he didn't really mind where he ended up.  
Duskull tilted its head like it had no faith in this plan.

Christian noticed the logs beneath the girl were wobbling quite a lot suddenly, casting an echo of ripples continuously. Then a monotone roar. Reverbing from somewhere deep in the water out to the East.  
"Something's coming." Confidence in his voice but unsure about what exactly it could be.  
"Huh?" She turned to follow his gaze.  
It was getting closer.  
Lots of splashing, a school of Tentacool were frantically paddling towards the town. That couldn't be the sound that was disrupting the water so much though…

And then the water rose into a tower, an aquatic eruption breaking to reveal a huge body of blue crashing around the tentacool. It was the biggest Pokémon Christian had ever seen.  
"Oh no! Wailord! They're too close!" Winter screamed and ran, "Get inside!" Now it was a shriek. Swanna launched itself skyward, veering round to gain speed and evacuate Christian. But it wasn't expecting the blow that came next from below. The slam splintered the wood beneath his feet and there was nothing he could do but fall into the water, immediately being swept up in the undertow of the massive aquatic Pokémon called Wailord.

Once again, all Christian could see was water. Until he blacked out.


End file.
